Senior Specialist – ICT Solutions Architect, ICT Strategy & Execution Coordination Unit (AD8) - European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (The Hague)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Lead artificial intelligence projects, performing effort estimates, assigning tasks to other specialists, following up on overall progress, ensuring overall quality and providing regular progress reporting
• Design and develop machine learning models and other components based on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence techniques
• Develop and maintain project-related technical documentation, including design and deployment documentation
• Participate in the AI Compliance group developing and implementing AI compliance frameworks, policies, processes and procedures
• Monitor AI deployments to ensure ongoing compliance with internal policies and external regulations
• Conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for AI systems handling personal data in coordination with Europol's Data Protection Function
• Conduct Fundamental Rights Assessments (FRAs) for AI systems in coordination with Europol's Fundamental Rights Officer
• Identify and mitigate risks associated with AI models, including bias, fairness, transparency, and security

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more; OR a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years; OR prof…
• Experience: At least 9 years of professional work experience gained after the award of the diploma. Essential experience in: architecture definition, specification, change management and providing architecture supervision and support to ICT delivery projects; designing applications for large scale deployments across functional domains based on custom-built or COTS products; devising designs to integrate cust…
• Languages: one of the languages of the Union (thoroug…), another language of the Union (satisfa…)
• Key skills: Sound knowledge of microservices patterns and anti-patterns, Event-driven and complex event processing architecture patterns and anti-patterns, Cloud application components and services architectures, design patterns/anti-patterns, AI/ML application integration concepts, methods, patterns, and representative technologies including LLMs, RAG, vector storage, MLOps, AI governance, ethical AI, and risk assessment frameworks, Privacy by design techniques, Enterprise search architecture patterns and anti-patterns, Information architectures and standards, meta-data management, master data management, data modelling and design, data quality management, Data integration solutions, ETL and streaming data solutions, Architecture Modelling techniques: conceptualisation, modelling, and visualisation of architecture models and designs
• Eligibility: Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen; have fulfilled any obligations imposed by applicable laws on military service; produce appropriate character references as to suitability for performance of the duties; be physically fit to perform the duties pertaining to the post as specified in Article 13 of the Conditions of Employment of Other…

Contract and working arrangements

Hiring unit: ICT Architecture Team, ICT Strategy & Execution Coordination Unit, ICT Department, Capabilities Directorate.

Position details

Directorate-General

C1 ICT

Last Verified

20 October 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Senior Specialist – ICT Solutions Architect, ICT Strategy & Execution Coordination Unit (AD8) at Europol based in The Hague (Temporary Agent). It is hosted by C1 ICT, the Directorate-General responsible for this policy area.

This vacancy is being advertised simultaneously internally and externally. Please note that if the post is filled internally, no appointment will be made from the external publication. Instead, the external selection process may be used to establish a reserve list of qualified candidates who may be considered for the same or similar opportunities in the future.

1. Organisation context

Organisational setting: The post of Senior Specialist – ICT Solutions Architect is located in the ICT Architecture Team, ICT Strategy & Execution Coordination Unit, ICT Department, Capabilities Directorate.

The ICT Department has the responsibility for devising, delivering and operating critical technology capabilities and solutions supporting the core mission and support processes of Europol. Over 150 internal staff members and a significant number of domain-specific consultants are responsible for devising, developing, delivering and operating information management and communication technology capabilities that ensure enhanced criminal information analysis and exchange among Europol, Member States and third parties.

The ICT Strategy & Execution Coordination Unit is responsible for maintaining/updating the ICT strategic direction and operating model, for the overarching planning coordination and implementation of the project portfolio, governing the ICT landscape and for progressing data science and AI activities. The Unit comprises of teams responsible for: ICT Project Execution & Coordination, ICT Architecture and Data Science & AI. Other activities performed by the Unit include budget forecasting and financial implementation, contract management, procurement coordination in the ICT suppliers’ space and corporate reporting.

Purpose of the post: The incumbent works in a team of enterprise and solution architects, each one predominantly focused in the specific architecture domain area for which they are most competent, but all closely cooperating as a team, coordinated by a Senior Specialist. The incumbent will cooperate closely with software and infrastructure engineering and ICT Operations teams, providing hands-on architecture guidance and contributing to solution engineering as well as product management across the full set of business domains.

S/he will translate business requirements into solutions architecture and designs, producing baseline and target solution architecture documentation, and ensure their respective roadmaps are aligned with the business strategy on one side and with the overall ICT evolution on the other side.

Reporting lines: The incumbent reports to the Senior Specialist - Head of Team – ICT Architecture.

2. Functions and duties

The successful candidate will have to carry out the following main duties:

- Lead artificial intelligence projects, performing effort estimates, assigning tasks to other specialists, following up on the overall progress, ensuring overall quality and providing regular progress reporting; - Design and develop machine learning models and other components based on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence techniques; - In cooperation with others, develop and maintain project-related technical documentation, including design and deployment documentation; - Participate in the AI Compliance group developing and implementing AI compliance frameworks, policies, processes and procedures, ensuring consistency and alignment with regulatory requirements (e.g., EU AI Act, GDPR, etc.); - Monitor AI deployments to ensure ongoing compliance with internal policies and external regulations; - In coordination with Europol’s Data Protection Function, conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for AI systems handling personal data; - In coordination with Europol’s Fundamental Rights Officer, conduct Fundamental Rights Assessments (FRAs) for AI systems; - Identify and mitigate risks associated with AI models, including bias, fairness, transparency, and security; - Conduct research and stay updated on emerging AI regulations, standards, and best practices; - Perform any other duties in the area of competence as assigned by line management.

3. Requirements - Eligibility criteria

a. Candidates must

- Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen; - Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service; - Produce appropriate character references as to his or her suitability for the performance of the duties; - Be physically fit to perform the duties pertaining to the post as further specified in Article 13 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS); - Produce evidence of a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

b. Candidates must have

- A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more;

OR

- A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years;

- Professional training of an equivalent level in a relevant area and after having completed the training, at least the number of years of relevant professional experience as indicated below:

Duration of professional training Additional professional experience required for equivalency More than 6 months and up to 1 year 4 years More than 1 year and up to 2 years 3 years More than 2 years and up to 3 years 2 years More than 3 years 1 year

- In addition to the above at least 9 years of professional work experience gained after the award of the diploma.

4. Requirements - Selection criteria

a. Professional experience

Essential:

- Experience in architecture definition, specification, change management and providing architecture supervision and support to ICT delivery projects; - Experience in designing applications for large scale deployments across a number of functional domains based on a combination of custom-built (mainly JEE, .Net and Python) or Commercial of the Shelf (COTS) products; - Experience with devising designs to integrate custom-built and COTS based systems; - Experience in incorporating the requirements of ICT operability and security into application and integration designs; - Experience with multi-product portfolio mapping, product roadmap alignment techniques, and cross-product capability management frameworks; - Experience in the following domain areas: o Data integration, acquisition, processing and reporting/visualization architectures and standards; o Architecting and integrating AI and Machine Learning (AI/ML) capabilities—such as Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, and automated analytical pipelines—into enterprise software solutions, including MLOps and AI security guardrails; o Microservices and event-driven architectures and standards (ex. containerized Kubernetes deployments and transactional integrity for microservices applications); o Search system architectures and standards (ex. Elasticsearch, Opensearch and similar); o Cloud application and services design/integration, including hybrid cloud/on-premises deployments; o Privacy and Data Protection by design solutions.

b. Professional knowledge Essential:

- Sound knowledge of the concepts, methods, techniques, and representative products in the following domain areas: o Microservices patterns and anti-patterns (i.e. Service Mesh, Distributed Tracing, Circuit Breaker, etc.) o Event-driven and Complex event processing architecture patterns and anti-patterns; o Cloud application components and services architectures, design patterns/anti-patterns;

o Sound knowledge of concepts, methods, patterns, and representative technologies for AI/ML application integration (including LLMs, RAG, vector storage, MLOps), as well as AI governance, ethical AI, and risk assessment frameworks; o Privacy by design techniques; o Enterprise search architecture patterns and anti-patterns, tackling cross system/network search needs including the document model definition and evolution; o Information architectures and standards, meta-data management, master data management, data modelling and design, data quality management; o Data integration solutions, ETL and streaming data solutions, including data modelling and designs for that purpose across management;

- Knowledge of Architecture Modelling techniques: conceptualisation, modelling, and visualisation of architecture models and designs; - Knowledge of multi-product portfolio mapping, product roadmap alignment techniques, and cross-product capability management frameworks;

c. General competencies Essential: Communicating:

- Excellent communication skills in English, both orally and in writing. - Excellent presentation skills. - Ability to draft clear and concise documents on complex matters for various audiences.

Analysing & problem solving:

- Structured approach to work aimed at getting results. - Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills. - Competent user of Microsoft Office applications (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and the internet.

Delivering quality and results:

- High degree of commitment and flexibility. - High level of customer and service-orientation.

Prioritising and organising:

- Excellent organizational skills including the ability to plan own work load, establish clear priorities and exercise initiative. - Ability to manage projects and familiarity with project management terminology and methodology.

Resilience:

- Strong ability to work well both independently and in a team.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 20 October 2026, today.

The application deadline is 20 November 2026, 31 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 20 October 2026.

Where to learn more

For headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at Europol see the Europol institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in The Hague see our The Hague location page.

New to EU careers? Our beginner's guide walks through entry routes, EPSO competitions, and what to prepare. For application logistics see application tips and EPSO competitions.